It is a sign of the stark improvement made by England in limited overs cricket over the past two years that their failure to beat South Africa in the second T20 international between the two sides was such a surprise.

Cruising for so long in pursuit of a relatively modest 175 in the first men’s international match to be staged at Taunton since 1999, a late collapse fuelled by the departure of Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy’s controversial dismissal saw the Proteas seal a game that for so long looked as though it would elude them by just three runs.

Requiring 12 runs to win from the final over, England’s hopes of victory faded when Liam Livingstone was run out, and with four needed from the last ball, Liam Dawson failed to get bat onto Andile Phehlukwayo’s final delivery to send the vast majority of a capacity crowd of 12,500 home disappointed.

Jos Buttler is bowled by Andile Phehlukwayo as the game begins to slip away from England (Image: Getty Images)

Failure for England was borne from two key moments. The decision by the third umpire to give out Roy for obstructing the field when he blocked Phehlukwayo’s throw towards his stumps after an assured, if at times fortuitous, 67 helped shift the momentum of the match in the favour of the visitors.

But what was just as pivotal a factor was the decision shortly beforehand, after Bairstow had been caught by Farhaan Behardien off the bowling of the outstanding Chris Morris for 47, to send a debutant in Liam Livingstone to the crease ahead of two renowned finishers of Twenty20 cricket in Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan.

Making an international debut is akin to being thrown into the lion’s den, and Livingstone struggled to settle as Buttler and Morgan remained in the pavilion.

Read More

Once the two did finally emerge – Buttler making a return to the County Ground to the delight of the home support – England’s stranglehold on the match was being loosened. As Buttler was bowled by a superb Phehlukwayo yorker for 10, and Morgan chipped to AB de Villiers for six, South Africa finally wrested control.

After the final three balls of the deciding over ended in singles, Livingstone wanted a second from the fourth. Had Dawson been aware of his teammate’s intentions, he may have completed the run, but instead he elected to ball watch, leaving both of them at the same end and one of the most straightforward run outs you could ever wish to see.

With eight needed from two deliveries, Dawson made full contact with Phehlukwayo’s penultimate ball to spear it to the boundary. The difference between a four and a six was a matter of inches, but for England, the ball agonisingly landed the wrong side of the rope.

The incident that led to Jason Roy being controversially run out for obstructing the field (Image: Getty Images)

It meant the Hampshire all-rounder had to go for broke from the final ball, and when the impressive Phehlukwayo – a great hope for South Africa’s future at just 21 – held his nerve, a victory that levels this series at 1-1 with Sunday’s decider at Cardiff to play was secured.

Credit for the late swing in momentum must also go to man of the match Morris, whose four overs yielded the wickets of Sam Billings and Bairstow and, more importantly in the context of the game, just 18 runs.

Earlier, the headlines had been stolen by Tom Curran, whose superb 3-33 capped a fine debut for England.

Curran was born in South Africa, but the nature of his celebration when he bowled Reeza Hendricks with just his second ball in international cricket proved beyond doubt that the allegiance of the 22-year-old lies on these shores.

Tom Curran enjoyed an international debut to remember with figures of 3-33 (Image: Getty Images)

Morris and Phehlukwayo were Curran’s other two victims in a performance that marks him out as a young bowler with an exceptionally bright career ahead of him.

That South Africa reached just 174-8, a total viewed by many as at least 20 runs below par for a Taunton pitch tailor made for batting in this format of the game, was as a result of their failure to push on after JJ Smuts and AB de Villiers had laid the perfect platform for the middle order.

Smuts rebounded well from his golden back at Southampton two days prior to post a measured 45 before he was caught by Liam Plunkett off the bowling of Dawson, while de Villiers showed signs of returning to his mercurial best by plundering three sixes in an innings of 46 that came from just 20 balls.

Once the pair departed, South Africa lost their way slightly, their cause helped by an uncharacteristic drop by Chris Jordan on Farhaan Behardien on his way to a vital 32, before Livingstone then put down Morris.

It was all these factors that combined to ensure that what for so long had looked like a routine England victory in their first appearance at Taunton in 34 years turned into a slender reverse.

This time, though, unlike in England teams of bygone eras, the nature of this loss was so unexpected.

The result may have been a disappointment, but for Somerset County Cricket Club and for Taunton, the match was anything but. A decade’s worth of work, culminating in packed grandstands and a thriller of a contest that went right down to the final ball.

For the county, the return of international cricket has been nothing but a roaring success.